Don’t leave transboundary groundwater management behind

[snoop1130]

 

This week, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) will convene the 4th MRC Summit in Vientiane, Lao PDR. This will be the fourth time the leaders of the Mekong come together to reaffirm their highest commitment to the MRC’s mandate and work for an economically prosperous, socially just, and environmentally sound Mekong River Basin.

 

The Mekong is undergoing tremendous transformations, with great challenges in terms of changing flow regimes, degrading environmental assets, increasing population and water use, and flooding and drought. Yet there are also significant opportunities to make development more optimal and sustainable, preserve key wetlands, watersheds, and floodplains, and increase the resilience of countries and communities.

 

Transboundary water management cooperation is also a critical element in all forms of sustainable development - from conquering water scarcity and protecting biodiversity to building stronger economies and ensuring peace and security.

 

In many parts of the world, transboundary groundwater resources provide irreplaceable benefits to local communities, particularly in arid areas, such as transboundary Cambodia - Mekong River Delta Aquifer, which is shared between Cambodia and Vietnam. Although the MRC has included groundwater in its mandate, aquifers (in particular, transboundary aquifers) are often forgotten, even though they represent a valuable source of water and there is an inherent link between surface and groundwater when discussing water resources management.

 

International Conference on Cooperation for Water, Energy, and Food Security in Transboundary Basins under Changing Climate, held on 2 April 2014 in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam emphasized that “Groundwater in the Mekong Region - Transboundary Aquifers” were being under the effect of groundwater overexploitation and possible influences across borders such as: lowering of groundwater table, reducing of groundwater availability, saltwater intrusion, change of water quality, land subsidence, and impact of ecosystems. Many researches and projects strongly proved that ancient deep water layers are being depleted and are not replenished by Mekong flood waters. Several groundwater reserves are transboundary, and it is recognized that there is limited capacity to manage these shared resources and limited knowledge about the sustainable yields of these transboundary aquifers. Especially in Mekong Delta Vietnam, the drought in 2016 has thus resulted extremely in a decrease in groundwater levels and the most extensive salinity intrusion in the last 90 years. This raises the concern that current groundwater use is already depleting the limited aquifer, and that further intensification of this groundwater use in the future is unsustainable in the Mekong Delta Vietnam.

 

The need for a regional survey of “current groundwater use and the potential of new developments” is clearly defined in the MRC Strategic Plan 2016-2020. Besides, training workshops are being organized to expand capacity building activity on groundwater management in the Lower Mekong Basin in recent years. The project “Enhancing sustainability of the Transboundary Cambodia - Mekong River Delta Aquifer” under Global Environment Facility - 7 (GEF-7) (kick-off by the end of 2022) is expected to strengthen the environmental sustainability and water security in the Lower Mekong Basin by focusing, for the first time, on improved governance and sustainable utilization of the Cambodia-Mekong River Delta Transboundary Aquifer.

 

The limited understanding of groundwater systems by the member countries restricts the sustainable management of groundwater resources. The 4th MRC Summit’s theme of “Innovation and Cooperation for a Water Secure and Sustainable Mekong” is a great opportunity to raise the agreements to increase the flexibility of management options, particularly when the management of groundwater systems is linked or at least supports each other. Transboundary co-management at the local level has reversed the trend of resource deterioration and re-established the groundwater level. And it will support the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals (directly and indirectly) and their associated targets.

 

Source: https://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news/detail/TCATG230403145024591

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2023-04-03

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

The most versatile and flexible rental investment and holiday home solution in Thailand - click for more information.

[quake]

Just for a minute,  I thought,  by the title,  we had a new one, to learn

LGBTQQIP2SA + TG .

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Mekong is undergoing tremendous transformations, with great challenges in terms of changing flow regimes, degrading environmental assets, increasing population and water use, and flooding and drought. Yet there are also significant opportunities to make development more optimal and sustainable, preserve key wetlands, watersheds, and floodplains, and increase the resilience of countries and communities.

A lot of "wet talk" going on there.

[herfiehandbag]

13 hours ago, quake said:

Just for a minute,  I thought,  by the title,  we had a new one, to learn

LGBTQQIP2SA + TG .

And no doubt a whole new set of "aqua- diverse pronouns" to choose from!